Transcendence: The Disinformation Encyclopedia of Transhumanism and the Singularity - Softcover

Sirius, R. U.; Cornell, Jay

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1938875095 ISBN 13: 9781938875090

Publisher: Disinformation Books, 2015

Synopsis

Transhumanism is an international movement that advocates the use of science and technology to overcome the "natural" limitations experienced by humanity through such developments as:

• the Singularity--the creation of machine intelligences that exceed the capacities of our biological brains
• the ability to replicate individual minds and put them into solid-state bodies or virtual environments
• individual control over mental and emotional states for enhancing functionalities and/or ecstasies

Some of this is happening now. Some of it is still in the minds of dreamers.

In nearly ninety A-Z entries, Transcendence provides a multilayered look at the accelerating advances in artificial intelligence, cognitive science, genomics, information technology, nanotechnology, neuroscience, space exploration, synthetic biology, robotics, and virtual worlds that are making transhumanism a reality. Entries range from Cloning and Cyborg Feminism to Designer Babies and Memory-Editing Drugs. In addition, the book notes historical predecessors and personalities, both in mythology and history--ranging from Timothy Leary to Michael Jackson to Ray Kurzweil. It also introduces the culture around Transhumanism, covering all the geeky obsessions of the Transhumanist movement.

About this title

About the Author

R.U. Sirius (Ken Goffman) is a writer, editor and well-known digital iconoclast. He was co-publisher of the first popular digital culture magazine, MONDO 2000, from 1989-1993 and co-editor of the popular book, MONDO 2000: A User's Guide to the New Edge. He has written about technology and culture for Wired, The Village Voice, Salon.com, BoingBoing.net, Time Magazine, S.F. Chronicle, Rolling Stone, and Esquire among other publications. Sirius/Goffman also lectures widely having appeared as part of the Reality Hacking series at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, at the TedX conference in Brussels, and at San Francisco's popular Dorkbot event. Visit him at: StealThisSingularity.com.
Jay Cornell is a writer, editor, web developer, and little-known semi-iconoclast. He is the former managing editor of h+ magazine, and the former associate publisher of Gnosis magazine. He is currently senior web developer at Landkamer Partners, and a member of the Board of Advisors of the Lifeboat Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to defending humanity from existential risks.

Review

"RU Sirius and Jay Cornell present us with their own psychedelic guide to the galaxy in this adventurous idea-rich book, bootstrapping on emerging technologies that beckon us to take control of our evolutionary destiny and lead humanity towards radical new landscapes of mind, of dream, of cosmos, of possibility. Metaphors for self-transcendence are 'literalized' as we 'timelapse' our capacity to artfully remake the world and ourselves." --Jason Silva

"This is without doubt the most delightful guide to the radical future." -Walter Isaacson

"Cool new book, Transcendence, on transhumanism, by King of the Freaks, R. U. Sirius. " --Rudy Rucker

"Transcendence by R.U. Sirius & Jay Cornell is fascinating, ridiculously fun to read, and good for you!" --Mark Leyner

"The future is weird, very weird!" --Paul Saffo

"Witty, snide, and incredibly informative." --George Dvorsky, iO9.com

"Sure-footed guides through the treacherous landscapes of infinite possibility, RU Sirius and Jay Cornell are lucid, witty, and stealthily profound. Transcendence is a refreshingly pro-human report on transhumanism and the 'Rapture of the Nerds.'" --Douglas Rushkoff, author of Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now

"This book is a hilarious breath of fresh air: the perfect antidote for Singularitarilistic Koolaide." --Dr. Ken Y. Goldberg, Amazon.com

"A wild tour of our possible future... friendly, fun, and extremely interesting, even hard to put down... creatives, circuitheads, and fans of science fiction will find plenty here to stimulate the mind." --Anna Call, Foreword Reviews

"A new book deciphering the surreal truths, questionable fictions, and high weirdness of the Singularity... Infotaining, irreverent, and frequent piss-taking paperback." --David Pescovitz, Boing Boing

Edition details

• Publisher: Disinformation Books
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1938875095
• ISBN 13: 9781938875090
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 288